Page 913 - Sports

Chopping, changing over now: Shastri on World Cup squad

As India prepares for the challenging tour to Australia, that includes four Tests, three ODIs and as many T20Is, head coach Ravi Shastri on Thursday said the time for "chopping and changing" in the ODI format is over and the team management will work on picking the top 15 for the ICC World Cup in England and Wales next year.

MI retains 18 players; releases Duminy, Cummins, Rahman

Mumbai Indians have retained 18 players including their skipper Rohit Sharma but released some top international stars like JP Duminy and fast bowling duo of Pat Cummins and Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman ahead of the 2019 Indian Premier League players' auction. The franchise has also released 10 players which include one capped, five uncapped and four international cricketers. All-rounder Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande, Aditya Tare, Ishan Kisan, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy and Suryakumar Yadav have been retained by the three-time champions. To maintain the mix of experience and youth, the franchise has also retained Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, destructive opener Evin Lewis and Kiwi pair of Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne. The management has also backed Australia's T20 specialist Jason Behrendorff after the left-arm quick was recalled to the national side to face the Proteas. Rohit -- the most successful captain in IPL -- will continue to lead the team

VAR to star in 2019 Asian Cup quarter-finals, says AFC

The Asian Football Confederation on Thursday said the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system will be implemented from the quarter-finals of next year's Asian Cup. The AFC which is the regional governing body, said VAR will be used in seven matches and at four venues. The system allows referees to review video footage of key decisions such as the awarding of goals, penalties and red cards during matches. It was used at the 2018 World Cup in Russia but with mixed results. VAR is already in use across the majority of Europe's major leagues including La Liga, the Bundesliga and Serie A. "The decision to include VAR was only made on September 26 and that has meant a tremendous amount of work has been required to ensure that it can play a role at the tournament from the quarter-final stages," Windsor John, the AFC general-secretary said in a statement. The bigger 2019 Asian Cup will feature a record 24 teams from all corners of Asia, up from 16 that participated in the previous four ...

Chennai Marathon gets new title sponsor

The annual Chennai Marathon to be held here January 6, 2019 would have a new title sponsor in Skechers, an American performance and lifestyle footwear brand. The Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon 2019 would witness huge participation from runners across the world, said a press note. This is one of the few marathon events in the country that is organised by the running community. The marathon, brainchild of Chennai Runners, a group that has been promoting running in the city for the past 10 years, would comprise four events for men and women including a Full Marathon (42.195 Km) - the flagship race of the event. The other events are Perfect 20 Miler (32.186 Km) - A new race category being held for the first time ever in a major marathon event, the Half Marathon (21.097 Km) and the 10 Km run. Skechers South Asia Pvt Ltd chief executive officer, Rahul Vira said, "Skechers Performance with its long standing association with major marathons around the world will try to ..

Pakistan look to Yasir, Abbas to tame 'tough' New Zealand

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed is confident leg-spinner Yasir Shah and medium pacer Mohammad Abbas can combine to tame "tough" New Zealand in the first Test starting in Abu Dhabi Friday. The fast-rising Abbas took 17 wickets in a two-match Test series, including a ten-wicket haul at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, as Pakistan beat Australia 1-0 last month. Abbas, who made his debut last year, has 59 wickets from his first 10 Tests and will be backed by the spin duo of Yasir and Bilal Asif. Sarfraz said he expects more from Yasir, who managed just eight wickets against Australia. "Yes, our bowling attack is good," said Sarfraz on Thursday. "Abbas has been bowling superbly while Yasir didn't look as great as we had expected, but in this series I expect more from Yasir." Yasir has been a match winner on the neutral venues of United Arab Emirates (UAE) where Pakistan have been forced to play since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team suspended international cricket back home. He ..

IPL: Cummins, Mustafizur, Duminy released by Mumbai Indians

Australia quick Pat Cummins and star Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman are among the 10 players, released by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2019 player auction next month.

TN, Hyderabad game ends in draw, teams get 1 point each

Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad had to settle for one point each as the first innings remained unfinished resulting in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' match ending in a tame draw here Thursday. In reply to Hyderabad's 565 for 8 declared, the home team was 409 for 4 in 154 overs riding on tons by Abhinav Mukund (178) and N Jagadeesan (131 not out, 16X4, 3X6) at close of play on the fourth and final day today. Resuming at 163 for 2, Tamil Nadu lost skipper Baba Indrajith (33) for the addition of 15 runs. Wicketkeer-batsman Jagadeesan, who joined the experienced Mukund in the middle, was his aggressive self and came up with some attractive shots. He added 171 runs with Mukund to dash any hopes Hyderabad would have entertained of obtaining a lead. After the exit of the left-handed opener, Jagadeesan and B Anirudh Sitaram kept the rival bowlers at bay, adding 60 runs. Play was called with an hour to go. Earlier, Hyderabad had posted a massive first innings total of 565 for 8 ...

Bolt could call it day in football by end of month

Star sprinter Usain Bolt will give himself until the end of November to take a call on whether to continue pursuing a career in professional football or not.

Hong Kong Open: Srikanth, Sameer enter quarterfinals

Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma advanced to the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open World Tour Super 500 tournament here Thursday. Fourth seeded Srikanth, who had claimed a silver medal at this year's Commonwealth Games, had to dig deep in his reservoir to outwit fellow Indian H S Prannoy 18-21 30-29 21-18 in a thrilling match, clocking an hour and seven minutes. Srikanth will face either Japan's Kenta Nishimoto or Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen. Sameer, however, qualified for the quarterfinals after his formidable opponent, Olympic champion Lin Dan pulled out of the competition due to injury. He will face either Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus or local hope Lee Cheuk Yiu on Friday. However, mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 17-21 11-21 to Chinese Taipei's Lee Yang and Hsu Ya Ching to bow out of the tournament. The match between the two trainees of the Pulella Gopichand academy turned out to be a pulsating contest ..

India to be hit hard by new professional tennis structure

The revamp of the global tennis structure's second tier - the ATP Challenger Tour - from 2019 will hit Indian players hard with the complete removal of ATP ranking points in the lower level of the men's circuit, according to Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association's Sunder Iyer. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) events with prize money of USD 25,000 and below will offer no ATP ranking points from next year, according to the MSLTA's secretary. With there being no ranking points for USD 15,000 and below events for women too and points restricted to the last four in the higher USD 25,000 ITF events, the women players too will take a hit, Iyer indicated. "Currently there are around 60 Indian men and women players who are ranked by the ATP and WTA. But next year, because of the revamp of the tennis structure, this would come down to less than 20," Iyer told PTI on Thursday. Countries and cities hosting tournaments will have to factor in higher costs to hold ...

World T20: Indian eves aim to book last four spot

India women's team would be aiming to sweep their third group match to enter the last four spot of the ongoing first stand-alone International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's World Twenty-20.The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has won both of their two matches - New Zealand by 34 runs in the opening fixture, and Pakistan by 7 wickets in the second game.With a power-packed back to back performances, Kaur became the first Indian to hit a ton in the format with a swashbuckling 103 runs in just 51 balls. The Indian skipper also stitched a sensational 134-run partnership with batter Jemimah Rodrigues, who smashed her individual 59 runs in the opener.Meanwhile, former skipper Mithali Raj with 56 runs took charge against Pakistan to lead the team past the moderate target of 134 runs set by the neighbours in their second fixture.Assisting with the ball, the spin duo of D Hemalatha and Poonam Yadav combined to restrict the opponents in the first two games. Both Hemalatha and Poonam picked three each ..

Chennai take on bottom-placed Aizawl in bid to extend lead (Preview)

After a confidence-boosting victory against East Bengal, Chennai City FC will look to extend their lead and stay at the top with a win against a subdued Aizawl FC in the 12th I-League football meet here on Saturday.

VAR to be used at Asian Cup football meet

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system will be used at next year's Asian Cup from the quarterfinal stage, it was announced here after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) decided to approve it.

Stubborn Silva helps Sri Lanka near England's 285

Sri Lanka's Roshen Silva held fort with his unbeaten 46 to resist a persistent England spin attack and guide the hosts to 244 for seven at tea in the second Test on Thursday. Adil Rashid struck twice after lunch to raise the tourists' hopes of securing a crucial first innings lead on a seemingly turning pitch on day two in Kandy. But Silva built crucial partnerships including a 46-run seventh wicket stand with Niroshan Dickwella, who made 26, as the hosts edged closer to England's 285. Dilruwan Perera, on 11, was batting alongside Silva at the break with Sri Lanka still trailing by 41 runs in the first innings. Rashid first got Dhananjaya de Silva for 59 in just the third over of the second session and later got Angelo Mathews caught behind for 20. Skipper Joe Root also chipped in with his spin to trap Dickwella lbw. England had made inroads into the Sri Lankan middle through some brilliant fielding by Ben Stokes before lunch but Silva frustrated the opposition bowlers in the second .

Ramkumar, Prajnesh lone Indian seeds in Challenger Tennis

Indian Davis Cuppers Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran, both ranked between 120 and 150, are the lone Indian men to be seeded in this year's USD 50,000 KPIT Men's Challenger Tennis to be held in Pune from November 17-24. Ramkumar has an ATP ranking of 121 and Prajnesh 142, but the tournament will not see defending champion and two-time winner Yuki Bhambri in action as he has pulled out citing an injury. "Yuki Bhambri (winner in 2015 and 2017) has sent a message that he's withdrawing because he is injured. It's a big loss for him," said Sunder Iyer, secretary of the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, which is organising the tournament, at a media conference here on Thursday. In his absence Ramkumar, who lost to Bhambri in last year's final, and Prajnesh, runner up to Sadio Doumbia of France in 2016, would lead the home country's challenge. These two are the lone Indians in the direct list of entries (cut off at ATP rank 280) who will be joined by four .

Palmeiras move closer to Brazilian Serie A title

Former Brazil international midfielder Felipe Melo struck a superb second-half goal as Palmeiras extended their lead at the top of the Brazilian Serie A standings with a 3-0 victory over Fluminense.

Shuttler Srikanth in Hong Kong Open quarters

Shuttler Kidambi Srikanth defeated his compatriot H.S Prannoy in an all-Indian men's singles clash to enter the quarter-final of the Hong Kong open tournament here on Thursday.

Leaders Chennai take on bottom-placed Aizawl in bid to extend lead

Table-toppers Chennai City FC will look to extend their lead at the top when they take on bottom-placed Aizawl FC in an I-League fixture here on Friday. Chennai have been the most impressive side of the league, notching up three wins out of four and remaining unbeaten with 10 points. Former champions Aizawl, on the other hand, are yet to win a match and have crashed to two defeats and managed two draws in the four games they have played so far. Gift Raikhan, the coach of the home side, who had such a wonderful run with debutants Neroca FC in the last edition, has found the going comparatively tough at Aizawl. Aizawl's three main goal scorers, scored just three goals among them, two of which came via the penalty spot. Three of the four Aizawl goals, in this campaign, have come from set pieces, further indicating a complete lack of ideas up front. "The result has not been good enough. We need to regroup and approach together on the pitch," Raikhan said. "The boys are a little bit down ..

Pound plunges after UK Brexit minister resigns

The pound fell sharply Thursday following the resignation of Britain's Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab over the terms of a draft deal reached with the European Union, dropping more than one per cent against both the dollar and the euro. The plunge erased gains made earlier in the week after a draft Brexit deal emerged between Britain and the EU. Around 0925 GMT, the pound was worth around USD 1.2831, compared with almost USD 1.30 late Tuesday.

Rooney reckons he picked 'right time' to leave Man Utd

Wayne Rooney believes he left Manchester United at the right time, even though he wanted to finish his career at Old Trafford. The 33-year-old, who is set to make his final England appearance against the United States in a friendly international at Wembley on Thursday, is now playing for North American club side DC United in Major League Soccer. But there is no denying his place in United's history books, with Rooney the club's leading goalscorer in a career that also saw him win five Premier League titles, the Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and three League Cups with the Red Devils. In total, Rooney made 559 appearances for United from 2004-2017 after joining from boyhood club Everton. But he started a mere seven of the final 19 Premier League appearances of his United career, with Rooney no longer a first-choice player under manager Jose Mourinho. Rooney returned to Everton before leaving English club football completely when he joined DC United earlier this year. "Of ...